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It was half-three in the afternoon when the school kicked out. As usual, Hitori hung back for a few minutes, hoping to avoid the mad rush that always ensued the final bell. He had little tolerance for the pushing and shoving that would no doubt be taking place, all part of a desperate bid to escape school a few moments earlier.
-What's a few moments?- he thought to himself, leaning against a wall just outside his last period classroom.
Once the commotion had died down, the mad torrent of students now a mere trickle of one or two, he resettled his bag on his shoulder and headed towards the main entrance.
He pushed the heavy wood double doors aside, stepping out into the warm, mid-afternoon sunshine. The breeze had grown stronger, ushering the white clouds quickly across the bright skies.
Hitori closed his eyes, taking a deep breath of fresh air and smiling.
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Renamon half sat, half perched, on a strong lower branch of a tree a small way away from the school building. She'd spent most of the day there, camouflaged and well hidden by the thick canopy of leaves.
Her legs hung casually over the edge of the limb, counterbalancing her weight as she reclined ever so slightly. She'd watched the tide of school students as they'd left the grounds, carefully trying to spot Hitori. But he hadn't emerged.
The sound of heavy doors creaking open made her ears twitch, drawing her attention to the main entrance to the school. As she watched, the boy emerged. Her curiosity was piqued once more as she noticed him take in the air, closing his eyes and smiling.
-The simple pleasures…- she thought, then phased out.
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Opening his eyes again, Hitori felt fully refreshed. He was about to head off school property, when a voice suddenly took him by surprise.
"Is it time for ice cream?"
Hitori felt his heart leap into his throat. He took a few moments to calm himself down. Once his pulse had slowed enough to avoid a heart attack, he spoke.
"Renamon, is that you?"
The yellow vixen appeared before him, phasing in out of thin air. Hitori raised an eyebrow as he watched, -interesting little trick.- That was obviously the same technique she'd used earlier to help him get to school.
"Yes." Renamon nodded once she had fully realised.
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Renamon hung back in the shadows, watching Hitori as he approached the ice cream stand. The pair had walked to the park, careful to stay away from busy streets. It had meant that they had to take a large detour along several small alleyways, but they had got there easily enough.
The man serving Hitori handed him two cones. Hitori returned quickly to the line of trees in which Renamon had hidden. He was already licking one of them, stopping the ice cream from running down the cone and making his hands sticky. Unfortunately, the one in his other hand went untended, the vanilla liquid running down the back of his hand.
"Here," he carefully handed it to Renamon.
She was careful not to drop it. She used her rough, vulpine tongue to reduce the excess and mould the dessert so that it wouldn't drip any more. She'd never had ice cream before, and she was amazed at how sweet it tasted. And it was so cold it almost hurt her teeth.
Hitori smirked as he watched her eat it eagerly –Wow, she must like icecream.-
Renamon stopped her rapid consumption of the sweet dessert upon noticing Hitori was watching her.
"What?" she asked, curious as to why he was watching her.
He shrugged, taking a quick lick of his own cone, "You seem to be enjoying the ice cream."
Renamon looked down at the cone in her hand, now half empty, and noticed Hitori's still almost full one. She suddenly felt embarrassed by how greedy she must've looked.
"I've, um… Never had ice-cream before…" she trailed off. She felt the cold run of the ice cream as it continued to melt, trailing its way through the white fur on the back of her paw. She quickly licked it up to avoid getting sticky.
"Really?" Hitori was surprised, to say the least, "Not even vanilla?"
"Vanilla? As in the plant?" now she was confused. What would a plant have to do with this semi-fluidic desert?
Again, Hitori shrugged, "It's something they use to flavour ice cream. Vanilla is just a common flavour."
"Is this vanilla?" Renamon questioned, returning to eating her cone before it fully melted. It didn't take her long to polish it off. And, watching Hitori take a bite, she realised the cone itself was also edible. Not as nice as the ice cream, but it was still good.
Hitori chuckled, "No, that was mint chocolate chip."
Again, Renamon felt embarrassed that she'd finished it off so quickly. Normally, she'd get defensive. But the emotions that usually followed in such a situation seemed to be incapable of rising to the surface.
"It was very nice." She finally said, "Thank you for the ice cream." – I may have to get some more from somewhere…- she added as an afterthought.
"From the way you ate it, I figured as much." Hitori finished his own cone off. He could feel Renamon's eyes studying him carefully, but she remained silent. The only noise was that of the breeze on the leaves, and the birds as they twittered in the trees.
There was also the sound of his shoes scuffling along in the leaf-litter as they walked. He had no idea where they were headed. Perhaps they were just walking, with nowhere in mind.
He soon came to realise that the tall, golden fox made no sound at all as she walked. He watched her feet as she took each step, raising an eyebrow in curiosity. Was her delicate step a deliberate effort on her part, or just a result of the grace that seemed to permeate her entire body? He had come to notice, in quite a short period of time, that her every move was laced with delicate, elegant motion.
His scrutiny of her feet hadn't gone unnoticed. Renamon stopped in her tracks, eyeing the boy suspiciously, "What are you doing?"
Hitori stopped in his tracks, grinning sheepishly and running his hand through his hair, "I was, um, watching your feet…"
"My… feet?"
He noticed the confused, almost worried look that emerged on her features. She looked down at her feet, wiggling her large toes slightly.
-Oh boy… How do I get out of this one?- He could only hope she wasn't assuming he had a foot fettish. Weighing up the options, honesty seemed to be the best policy, "I noticed how silent your footsteps were compared to mine."
Her puzzlement was replaced by a look of intrigue.
"You seem very graceful." Hitori went on to add.
Renamon seemed somewhat pleased by the comment, judging from the change in her expression. She'd assumed that it was a compliment, as indeed Hitori had intended it to be, at least on some level.
"Thank you." She almost beamed.
The pair continued walking, following the woodland trail deeper into the trees.
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End of chapter 4
A thank you to Renaki, Lily's Courage and Dameningen for your reviews. Also, thank you to Kitaiko for the constructive criticism. It has already come in very useful.
Thanks again,
BlueRenamon
